It was a massive year for sport – a winter Olympics, a summer World Cup, the FIFA World Cup scandal that won’t die, and reforms afoot at the International Olympic Committee. Here are some of my highlights…

The limited release of FIFA’s investigation into corruption allegations surrounding the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup was supposed to allay the ever-increasing perception that corruption…

Qatar and Russia have been cleared of corruption in their successful World Cup bids.
EPA/Walter Bieri14 novembre 2014

FIFA appears to have cleared Russia and Qatar of any wrongdoing in their successful bids to host the 2018 and 2022 world cups. Its report recognises that mistakes were made but downplays the level of improper…

There is an old British saying: “It never rains but it pours”. One of Britain’s former protectorates may well have to consider adopting the phrase as its new national slogan. In Qatar, it hardly ever seems…

In the brouhaha surrounding Qatar winning the bid to host the 2022 World Cup, five of the World Cup’s six sponsors have raised concerns over the allegations surrounding this decision. FIFA has a total…

FIFA, led by president Sepp Blatter, is under fire once more for its decision to award hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup to the Gulf nation of Qatar.
EPA/Atef Safadi6 juin 2014

Qatar did not win the right to host football’s World Cup in 2022 legitimately. That was impossible. Awarding the World Cup to Qatar was clearly not about passion for the game, nor about offering communities…

Is new Qatari emir as keen on World Cup as predecessor Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani?
EPA5 juin 2014

The highly visible role played by Qatar in spearheading the Arab Spring uprisings in north Africa and Syria in 2011 focused world attention on this tiny Gulf emirate. It capped a remarkable year that began…